With employee linked to kidnapping, school district explains background check process

Feb. 19, 2014

Craig Michael Wood

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The man arrested in connection with the abduction of a 10-year-old girl was hired by Springfield Public Schools, even though he had a criminal history.

Police Chief Paul Williams confirmed Wednesday that Craig Michael Wood, a district employee since 1998, had “minor” criminal infractions. They include a 1990 guilty plea to possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, and a misdemeanor charge related to illegal killing of wildlife, turkey, in 2001.

Wood was hired in August 1998 and was most recently working — until today — as a paraprofessional, or teaching assistant, overseeing in-school suspension at Pleasant View Elementary and Middle School. He was also a middle school football and basketball coach.

Wood also worked as a substitute, meaning he was in numerous school buildings over the years.

Current state law requires districts to conduct a background check on employees who interact with students. That rule applies to certified employees, such as teachers, and non-certified employees such as Wood.

Parker McKenna, the district’s director of human resources, said Wood was listed as a temporary employee until 2006. That makes it nearly impossible to know if he worked consistently in the early years or had gaps in his employment.

“Much of his employment was related to coaching,” McKenna said. His employment was, at times, seasonal in nature.

It wasn’t clear Wednesday if a background check was conducted on Wood or if such reviews were even required of temp workers hired in the late 1990s.

Most of Wood’s time was spent at Pleasant View, a K-8 building with just over 600 students, located at 2210 E. State Highway AA.

A 2012-13 salary list provided by the district shows Wood was making a base salary of $17,220 last year. Four years earlier, his base pay was just $15,515.

According to the district, Wood’s employment has been suspended until this matter is resolved.

McKenna said new job applicants must be fingerprinted and submit to a thorough review that searches local, state and national criminal databases including the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

“Because we’re an educational institution, it also provides us information that is open and closed,” he said. That means the district also has access to databases that may not be open to the public.

Following a News-Leader request about Wood’s background, the district released details of its process. It states, among other things, that “successful completion of a background check” is a condition of employment.

“In addition to what is required by state law, SPS adds an additional check of the Family Care Safety Registry which pulls information from more than a dozen local, state, and national agencies and reports information which may deem the potential employee to be unsuitable for work with children,” the news release stated.

The registry would include any substantiated allegations of child abuse or neglect.

According to the district, hiring managers receive automated notifications from the HR department when an applicant has cleared his or her background check “and they may be around students.”

“No newly hired employee is allowed to be around students until they have cleared all portions of the background check process,” the news release said.

McKenna said the district has leeway in deciding whether or not to hire an applicant who has criminal infractions that are considered minor or do not involve child abuse or neglect.

“The results of the background check are provided to the district and it’s up to the district to decide if those results are acceptable,” he said. “...Our primary concern is for the safety of our students.”